Archive for the ‘Inter-species connections’ Category

I have been blessed with experiencing one of the last great wildernesses in the world, The Great Bear Rain Forest, before it gets devastated by a planned tar sand, dirty oil pipeline from one of the greatest environmental disasters in history, the Tar sands of Alberta to one of the most sensitive and pristine coastlines in the world on the British Columbia west coast. It is an amazing living example of the Kindred Spirits Project where the First Nations bands still live and work in harmony with the animals and environment despite all the outer challenges from corporations interested only in financially extracting as much as they can from the environment and leaving the devastating results to everyone else to deal with. I stayed with the Klemtu First Nations band in their Spirit Bear Lodge and spent hours interviewing band members from 18 years old to their elders and their chief. I was blessed that their 30 year old (youngest ever) Chief, Doug Neassloss was by bear guide for a few days. We discussed the endless challenges from corporations to destroy their homeland as well as how their culture is so intimately intertwined with all the animals and the nature that they share their homes with. The human animal bond is evident in every moment here. Watch this to get just a tiny impression of being in this precious, endangered great bear rainforest. This great bear rainforest video is a clip from the National Geographic documentary on this endangered region.

I am so grateful to so many readers of my blog that send me further documentation of trans-species connections. Apparently this video and news report have gone global and one wonderful reader shared it with me, as I do not watch TV. It not only is further documentation of trans-species connections, but also of trans-species maternal behavior as I have discussed on each Mother’s Day for the past two years. In addition, on you-tube next to this video are more video’s documenting trans-species maternal behavior. I feel that the further collection of video’s documenting such behavior may eventually allow skeptics or scientists who demand double blind placebo controlled trials for evidence of behaviors and consciousness in other species, to acknowledge that consciousness and more evolved behaviors do indeed exist. I believe that the more evidence that we collect, the more people will acknowledge this trans-species field exists and just by becoming more aware of it, we can actually re-create a garden of eden on this planet, where compassion for all beings is the basis for compassionate society.

A friend of mine collected a series of animal friendship video’s and sent them to me recently to share with all my kindred spirits! So delightful to see so many friendships that transcend species, limited belief systems, biases, labels etc. Our programmed beliefs and patterns can limit our perceptions of reality so much that we can miss the interconnected oneness of all beings. These heart warming, joyous video’s assist in awakening our inner joy, our awareness of our oneness and what fun life can actually be!

My invitation to all of you today is perhaps try to see each being that you interact with today, beyond labels, and just someone to connect with with joy, offering them simple thoughts of loving kindness recognizing that we truly are all one.

Throughout my life, I envisioned sharing lives with animals with a much more compassionate perspective than what sometimes happens in the “real” world. This heartwarming equine training video with a Czech horse trainer exemplifies what is possible when we interact with loving kindness and compassion for all beings, connecting through the silence, the “oneness” that is within all of us. When working on my Master’s degree in Animal Behavior, I was committed to only conduct studies that would not harm animals and that could provide potential improvement in their lives. Throughout my veterinary career, I always focused on more human training methods for all animals, horses, dogs, cats etc. I also gravitated to clients that were focused on more humane training and treatment of animals. I am pleased to see that more and more video’s are showing “horse whisperer’s, horse trainers and others who are interacting with horses in more humane ways and working together with their natural behavior patterns. I am interested to hear from anyone working with horses what you think of this video. Is there a way one can incorporate more of these approaches into your own work. Perhaps it can stimulate us to explore new ways of interacting with horses with more fun, love and compassion.

Watching this video, I sensed that I could feel what I call the “Trans-species Field” interaction between them all. I believe that there are other levels of interspecies connection and communication that transcends what we understand and I feel that this is a beautiful demonstration and documentation of these fields of communication.

Recently I attended a showing of the documentary “Buck”, with the director Cindy Sheehan. It was touching to see how Buck transformed old childhood wounds and emotional trauma into a positive force in his life and has helped so many people and horses through that. There are some touching moments in the movie, showing the deleterious effects on horses, when people’s emotional trauma impacts on their treatment of horses. This is the exact same with all animals, horses, dogs, cats etc. Our emotional trauma impacts significantly on the well being of our animal friends. It is a unique opportunity for us to heal and transform our childhood wounds and trauma so that we do not impact on our kindred spirits in a destructive manner. So often, if one is observant and aware, we can see how our old destructive patterns can be mirrored back to us by our animal companions as well as humans.

As so much is happening in the world these days, it is more essential than ever that we heal our old wounds so that we can be of benefit to all other beings and assist in the creation of a more compassionate society. May all of us heal our old wounds and destructive patterns and have more fun with our animal friends and enjoy creating a world filled with loving kindness!

The life of Lawrence Anthony is a testimony to a depth of trans-species communication, respect and love that goes beyond our minds limited perceptions of what is possible.

The blog post on delightmaker asks the right questions as stated here “So, how after Anthony’s death, did the reserve’s elephants — grazing miles away in distant parts of the park — know? “A good man died suddenly,” says Rabbi Leila Gal Berner, Ph.D., “and from miles and miles away, two herds of elephants, sensing that they had lost a beloved human friend, moved in a solemn, almost ‘funereal’ procession to make a call on the bereaved family at the deceased man’s home.” The blog, delightmaker also states ““If there ever were a time, when we can truly sense the wondrous ‘interconnectedness of all beings,’ it is when we reflect on the elephants of Thula Thula. A man’s heart’s stops, and hundreds of elephants’ hearts are grieving. This man’s oh-so-abundantly loving heart offered healing to these elephants, and now, they came to pay loving homage to their friend.””

From my limited, exploratory perspective, this is one further documentation of my “Trans-species Field Theory (c) and my thoughts on the potential of a “love particle” (c) that may be formed from the instant when the energy of love turns into a potential form of matter of love through the thoughts and emotions of that connection. The research and concepts at Heartmath may also be appreciated as truly being “trans-species” as is seen in this example of elephants recognizing the death of a beloved human and traveling so far to connect at that moment. The levels of interspecies communication and their potential implicatons are only being glimpsed from our limited three dimensional perspective. We need to witness and experience these connections to become aware of their existence. The potential of where that can lead all living beings is unlimited. If we create a space of inner silence, quiet within our hearts and allow a spacious emptiness of love and compassion to arise out of that to connect with all beings, perhaps there can be a global shift back to a living garden of eden here and now.

Do animals have concepts of other? other species? I pondered this question after reading this story of cooperation between humpback and gray whales in defending a baby whale from Orca whales who attacked it. This article offers excellent documentation of this cooperation. It also proposes which parts of a mammalian nervous system are designed for this level of cooperation. It is wonderful to see continued documentation of behaviors in other species that we oddly consider limited to humans due to our species centric egoic perspective of life. Perhaps if we begin with a perspective that we are essentially the same, rather than essentially different, we might behave differently to other species and not destroy them and all our shared habitat. Again perhaps we should begin with asking the right questions or begin with a unified field theory, that we are truly all one.

On Mother’s Day, it is sad to see one species killing the baby of another for food. Yet, it is also beautiful to see other species trying to help the mother protect her young. On Mother’s Day, perhaps we can view each other as being mother to all beings, to our environment and to all of nature and perhaps we can create a world where we care for and love all of nature as our child. May all beings assist in protecting our precious children from harm whether from other beings, or from harmful ecocidal practices, from control issues that are not in the best interest of all beings and from the lack of truth. Happy Mother’s Day to Mother Earth as well!

I am grateful to readers of the kindred spirits project who are kind enough to share video’s and photo’s that continue to document how it is truly in our hearts to help one another. Someone just sent me this heartwarming video of average beings confronted with a challenging situation and just instantly choosing to help save these stranded dolphins. Watch this video of people relaxing on a beach and then jumping into Saving Dolphins. Personally, each time these situations are documented of how we naturally want to help one another, it builds a solid foundation for demonstrating the highest good in all of us.

Thank you all for sharing these. The kindred spirits project is truly becoming a storehouse of documentation for who we truly are and who we can be!

A friend shared this educational video from TED talks on Animal Morality. The TED talk summary states “Empathy, cooperation, fairness and reciprocity — caring about the well-being of others seems like a very human trait. But Frans de Waal shares some surprising videos of behavioral tests, on primates and other mammals, that show how many of these moral traits all of us share. In the midst of being “time-challenged” with seeing patients, I wanted to just quickly share this heart touching, hopeful, promising video of how humans can choose to act rather than some of the more violent, greedy behavior that seems to be in the news so frequently.

I am about to participate in a two day conference at Western Connecticut State University with Buddhist scholars, faculty and students on April 20 and 21, titled “Creativity and Compassion”. It is part of a preparation for a visit from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Based on the integration of my personal journey and my professional journey, I will be part of a panel discussion titled “The Art of Compassion: bringing creativity and compassion to the ordinary tribulations of daily life. It is heartening to see how compassion, empathy, creativity, are being recognized as essential behaviors as we choose to evolve to a more conscious world, all working together for the benefit of the common good.

Enjoy this educational video and recognize we all are able to make choices regarding our behaviors. Let us choose ones that are moral and for the benefit of all beings!

The beliefs, philosophy and concepts of the Kindred Spirits Project seems to be evolving in the collective consciousness of society recently. My dear friend and colleague, Dr. Marc Bekoff has recently shared in his blog post about the creation of the new National Museum of Animals and Society in Southern California. With all the museums in the world honoring so many worthy causes, movements, art and history, I am so thrilled to see the creation of this new Museum of Animals and Society. NMAS even has a tour titled Souls that Awaken Us and can be found on their Facebook page.

This museum, NMAS, is another physical manifestation of the vision of acknowledging a new level of awareness and connection between humans and animals. It has been an ongoing evolutionary process, back to the future, so to speak, acknowledging the vast, intimate interconnectedness between humans and nonhuman animals and all living beings. It seems so obvious, yet, in a society where technology, competitiveness devoid of ethics and morality, darwinian capitalism and survival of the fittest seem to be the dominant themes, the healing power of human, nature, animal connections seem to have been less honored and acknowledged for their vital part in a healthy society. Years ago, the Harvard based entomologist, E.O. Wilson termed this connection “biophilia”, the inherent love of all living beings. I discussed this subject as one of the foundations of my book, “Kindred Spirits”, over ten years ago. This has began to evolve into a relatively new field of called anthrozoology that is focused on research on the nature of humans-animal interactions. It is exciting to see how this field is gaining a good deal of momentum from researchers representing many different disciplines.

On the anthrozoology website, Anthrozoology is defined as “the study of the relationships between humans and animals”. The website states that “Anthrozoology is unique in that it studies the role of animals in the lives of humans, and vice versa. It has been called many other things, including “human animal interaction”, and the “human animal bond”. The term Anthrozoology comes from the Greek anthropos, meaning human, and zoon meaning animal.”

These days it can be challenging not to become disheartened by all the pain and suffering occurring to animals and humans throughout the world. It is a joy to see some positive acknowledgements about the importance of nature and animals in the survival of our world. I am grateful that we can all be part of this new awareness and each of us bring this awareness to all our friends and our communities. Check out these new worlds and museums and spread the great news!

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Spring and with the new buds and flowers blossoming outside, may new love and light blossom within each of us and be of benefit to the world as well!

It is a joy to see the compassionate trainer, Jean Francois in this video demonstrating his loving horse connection. Through his loving connection, he is able to train and enjoy such a deep, profound bond with his horses without all the traditional horse training tools. As he says in this beautiful video, he is able to get these results through love and the inner silent connection. Personally, I find one of the keys to this deep profound connection is finding that profoundly quiet center in our hearts and cultivate and nourish that center and radiate out that loving connection from that center to all animals. That is essentially what I feel Jean Francois is doing in this video. I actually think this is a possible example demonstrating my “trans-species field theory. (more…)